To what extent was Rosario “Russell” Bufalino involved in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975? In the CIA’s recruitment of gangsters to assassinate Fidel Castro? In organizing the historic meeting of crime chieftains at Apalachin, N.Y. in 1957? Even in the production of The Godfather movie?

Few knew about the secretive—even reclusive—Russell Bufalino until 2008, when a Catholic Priest and powerful Pennsylvania businesman were indicted for lying to a grand jury about their prior relationships with the late Mafioso. The charges opened the door to the shocking truths about Bufalino, who quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. Bufalino's reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day. A uniquely American saga that spans six decades, The Quiet Don follows Russell Bufalino’s remarkably quiet ascent from Sicilian immigrant to mob soldier to a man described by a United States Senate subcommittee in 1964 as “one of the most ruthless and powerful leaders of the Mafia in the United States.”

"The Quiet Don is a must read and an important addition to the history of organized crime in the U.S."G. Robert Blakey, a former Notre Dame law professor, a draftsmen of the RICO Act, chief counsel to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, and a prosecutor in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Department of Justice under Robert F. Kennedy.

"This fast-paced, captivating probe into the life of Russell Bufalino fills a major gap in the annals of organized crime and shows why this story continues to matter so much today. This is sophisticated investigative reporting, told with a novelist's storytelling flair."Paul Moses, a journalism professor at Brooklyn College, a former reporter/editor at New York Newsday, and author of The Saint and the Sultan.

"The fascinating tale of Russell Buffalino, a brainy mobster who was in a Mafia league of his own."Tom Robbins, a professor at the CUNY school of journalism and former investigative reporter at the New York Daily News and Village Voice.